#2 Dukes Head to Long Island for Clash with #24 Stony Brook

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Second-ranked James Madison wraps up its season-long, three-game road trip on Saturday, Oct. 5 with a Colonial Athletic Association battle at 24th-ranked Stony Brook.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at LaValle Stadium and will be televised on SNY (local markets only) and streamed on FloFootball (subscribe here). The game can also be heard on the JMU Sprint Broadcast Network, with pregame coverage beginning at 5 p.m.

The 2019 JMU football season is presented by CarMax.

FAN & PRESS LUNCHEON

BREAKING DOWN THE SERIES
JMU and Stony Brook meet for the sixth time since the Seawolves joined the league in 2013, but it is only the second trip for the Dukes to LaValle Stadium. The Dukes are currently riding a four-game win streak in the series and are 1-0 at Stony Brook, claiming a thrilling 27-24 win back on Nov. 8, 2014 on their only other trip to SBU.

Three of the five meetings have been decided by three points, which included JMU's 13-10 win last season at Bridgeforth Stadium on Oct. 27, 2018. JMU has outscored SBU by averages of 28.4 to 20.4 in the series, scoring 38 points twice and at least 26 in four of five.

THE LAST TIME JMU AND STONY BROOK MET
JMU shut out Stony Brook in the second half and Tyler Gray connected on two fourth-quarter field goals to lift the Dukes to a 13-10 win back on Oct. 27, 2018. Dimitri Holloway made a career-high 18 tackles and Landan Word had 10 stops, as the Dukes held SBU to 120 yards in the second half. Despite being out-gained 305-243, JMU held the CAA's top rushing offense to 113 yards, which was over 100 yards under SBU's season average.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE DUKES
JMU rushed for 336 yards while holding Elon to only 33 yards on the ground en route to a 45-10 win last Saturday. It was the fourth straight win for JMU, as it improved to 3-0 all-time at Rhodes Stadium. The Dukes had four rushers go for at least 50 yards, led by Jawon Hamilton's 81 yards and a touchdown. Latrele Palmer ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns, Solomon Vanhorse had 63 and two scores and Percy Agyei-Obese added 59 yards.

Elon scored two plays into the game but was held to just 152 yards on its final 11 drives, as JMU used a 38-point run to take control. JMU's defense registered 10 tackles for loss, five sacks, an interception and the punt team had a block. JMU out-gained Elon 521-227 and did not have one negative play from scrimmage (no TFL or sacks allowed).

Ethan Ratke sits alone atop the record books for JMU career field goals, as he hit his 40th on a 44 yarder at Elon. He surpassed John Coursey, who made 39 from 1993-96. Ratke is also seventh in scoring (211), needing just 10 more kicking points to enter the top five.

DUKES STAY PUT AT #2 FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT WEEK
JMU is #2 for the sixth straight week in both the STATS FCS Top 25 and AFCA FCS Coaches' Poll. The Dukes garnered seven first-place votes from the media, trailing just defending champion, North Dakota State, which took home 152 first-place votes. #3 South Dakota State held its spot, Weber State rose to #4 and Villanova rounded out the top five. The CAA once again boasts an FCS-leading six ranked teams this week, including three in the top 10.

Following JMU and Villanova were #9 Towson, #19 Delaware, #20 Maine and #24 Stony Brook. JMU has been nationally ranked every week since Nov. 10, 2014 and inside the top 15 every week since the start of the 2015 season. It has also been in the top 10 every week since Sept. 26, 2016.

SCOUTING STONY BROOK
The Seawolves enter Saturday's matchup with a 4-1 record and 1-0 mark in CAA play following a thrilling 31-27 win at Rhode Island last week. Quarterback Tyquell Fields used a 50-yard run with 11 seconds left to rally SBU for the CAA-opening win. Stony Brook averages 28.8 points per game while conceding 23.8 to its foes. SBU leads the CAA in rushing offense (264.6) and total offense (478.6), just edging out JMU in both areas.

Isaiah White is third in the conference in rushing (92.0) and Seba Nekhet is fifth (80.0). Defensively, the Seawolves are second in the CAA in rushing defense (88.8) and total defense (335.0) but are 10th against the pass (246.2). SBU also leads the league with 13 sacks through five weeks. Sam Kamara is tied for third with 3.0 sacks and Augie Contressa is first in tackles for loss, with 8.0. Jean Constant is the league leader with a 14.0 punt-return average, which includes a long of 71.

Chuck Priore is in his 20th season at the helm, leading SBU to an 88-67 record. He guided the Seawolves to four Big South titles before moving to the CAA. SBU has gone to four FCS playoffs under Priore, including each of the past two seasons.

BEST OFFENSES VS. BEST DEFENSES
Saturday features the CAA's top-ranked offenses and defenses going head-to-head. SBU's offense ranks seventh nationally and the run game is eighth in the FCS. The Seawolves' defense is 27th overall and their rushing defense is 13th. The Dukes rank eighth in total offense and 12th in rushing, while the defense ranks fifth in total defense and second against the run.

WIN-STREAK TRENDS
During JMU's four-game win streak, JMU has outscored its opponents by a combined 189 to 43, averaging wins by 47.2 to 10.8. The Dukes have gained more than double the yards of their four opponents, tallying 2,043 yards of offense, compared to allowing 984. JMU has also out-rushed its opponents by four times, gaining 1,108 and conceding just 275.

The Dukes have scored 24 touchdowns while allowing Saint Francis, Morgan State, Chattanooga and Elon to combine for five trips to the end zone. Third down heavily favors JMU, as it converts 58% (30/52), and getting off the field 80% of the time (11/54). The Dukes dominate time of possession, averaging 33:22 in each of the wins with the offense on the field.

OTHER ACTIVE STREAKS ENTERING THE WEEK
The Dukes enter the week on a four-game winning streak. JMU has collected four-straight wins vs. CAA teams, including playoffs. The Dukes have out-rushed opponents in nine straight games and have out-gained opponents in 10 straight games.

JMU ON SNY AND FLOFOOTBALL THIS WEEK
The Dukes can be seen regionally on SNY for patrons in New York, Connecticut, Northeast Pennsylvania and New Jersey. For out-of-market viewers, the game will be streamed through FloFootball and seen digitally through the FloSports app. Monthly and annual subscriptions are available and fans can subscribe here. Once subscribed, fans can watch all CAA games, as well as all other FloSports content on the portal. Digital options include Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. Jonny Wincott will be on the call for play-by-play and will be joined by former New York Jet Erik Coleman on color commentary and Ariel Epstein down on the sideline.

JMU SPRINT BROADCAST NETWORK
All 12 regular-season games, as well as any postseason matchups, can be heard online on the JMU Sprint Broadcast Network or on airwaves at WSVA 550AM and 92.1 FM. Online listening options include MadiZONE free audio and the TuneIn app. Dave Thomas is in his fifth season as the play-by-play man for the Dukes and is joined by Clint Estes on color commentary. The pregame show begins this Saturday at 5 p.m., ahead of the 6 p.m. kickoff.

UP NEXT
The Dukes return home for Family Weekend on Saturday, Oct. 12 when they face long-time conference foe Villanova. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. from Bridgeforth Stadium.

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